It is conventional in the outdoor luminaire art to employ a telescoping mounting relationship of the mast arm end to an integral channel receiver of the luminaire housing to support the luminaire on the mast arm. The mast is hollow and serves as a wireway for connecting wires of the luminaire. The wires are generally connected within the luminaire housing either directly to a terminal board or to wires connected to the lamp and controls. An example of this mounting structure is shown by U.S. Des. No. 179,339 issued Dec. 4, 1956 to Clark.
The mast is secured within the receiver by suitable bolts and the bolts once tightened are generally not removed until the luminaire requires replacement. Access to the wires for connection and inspection is made by opening the luminaire head assembly, usually by opening toggle latches and the like. The luminaire opening provides access to the lamp and exposes the interior of the luminaire.
In other known installation techniques, a generally rectangular mast is provided in which the entire bottom plate of the mast is detachable to allow access to the wireway. In this construction, the wireway bottom plate is generally hinged since it may also support the lamp ballast. An example of this type of mounting is shown by U.S. Des. No. 204,618 issued May 3, 1966 to S. M. Rutter.
In either construction, the wireway and the mounting must be weatherproof. The mounting must enable access to the wireway for snaking the wires into the housing opening for connection within the luminaire cavity. The connection must be available for inspection when necessary.
Thus, the requisites of a mast to luminaire mounting are that the mounting be weathertight, enable entry for wires into the luminaire cavity and allow access to the luminaire without materially affecting the mounting integrity of the mast to the luminaire housing.